- Jack Dorsey mentioned Twitter’s board — and its activist investor — prompted him to plan an exit from the agency.
- “I used to be comfortable to see it finish,” Dorsey mentioned of the board when Elon Musk took Twitter personal.
- Earlier than leaving Twitter in 2021, Dorsey confronted stress from traders seeking to exchange him as CEO.
Jack Dorsey, the cofounder of Twitter, slammed the board that oversaw the social media agency throughout his tenure at its helm, saying the group had “at all times been an issue.”
“I used to be extraordinarily challenged by my board,” Dorsey mentioned throughout an interview printed Thursday by Mike Solana, the top of promoting for VC agency Founders Fund and editor of digital media model Pirate Wires.
“The board has at all times been an issue at that firm, and I used to be comfortable to see it finish,” Dorsey continued. “However there was just one method for it to finish, which goes personal. And I believe that is the best act.”
Twitter was bought for $44 billion in October 2022 to Elon Musk, who took the platform personal, radically modified its strategy, and rebranded it to X. By then, Dorsey had already stepped down from the corporate, leaving it in 2021 to its new CEO, Parag Agrawal.
Dorsey advised Solana that earlier on, he’d tried to carry Musk onto Twitter’s board however was stopped twice. That was partially why he determined to ditch the platform, he mentioned.
In April 2022, Musk joined Twitter’s board of administrators after taking a 9.2% stake within the firm.
However Dorsey mentioned he was additionally sad with the board due to an activist investor in search of as well him, he mentioned.
“I did not need to be on a board with an activist,” he mentioned. I did not need to run an organization like that. It is only a Wall Road mess. It is not inventive, it is diminishing.”
That investor was Elliott Administration, an funding agency led by Paul Singer that wished to switch Dorsey as a result of he was spending time on his different enterprise, Sq., whereas operating Twitter as CEO.
Dorsey mentioned he supplied to step down, a proposal that was rejected by the board. Nonetheless, he mentioned Elliot Administration’s presence took a toll on his relationship with the agency.
“So at that time, I am like, okay, I’ve to plan an exit,” Dorsey advised Solana. “It is not going to be proper now, nevertheless it must be over the subsequent two years, as a result of I simply do not need to dwell this fashion.”
His feedback align with experiences {that a} fed-up Dorsey was receptive to Musk shopping for Twitter and revamping the platform.
Throughout the interview, Dorsey did not tackle allegations that he was virtually an “absentee” at each Twitter and Sq. as a result of he was break up between firms. He was accused of being extra of an advisor at both agency than the decision-maker and CEO he wanted to be.
Dorsey made his latest remarks simply after quitting Bluesky, a social media platform he helped create with an open-source protocol. He then urged customers to make use of X, calling it “freedom expertise.”
Since taking up, Musk has pushed for X to change into a perfect “digital city sq.” freed from censorship, reversing prior bans on controversial figures resembling former President Donald Trump and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
The billionaire’s repeated controversial remarks ultimately led to main advertisers leaving X, although Dorsey has additionally mentioned he believes that the trail ahead for the platform is to ditch promoting as a most important income stream.
